A peace dividend

When I went to Sri Lanka and travelled to Jaffna, I was amazed at the quality of the roads there.  What happened to the Tamil people at the end of the war was barbaric, just like Black July was.  Hopefully, with the economic development that has taken place in the North and the East of the Island, civil war will not return.  Just like I hope this is the case in Northern Ireland.  Basically, people have gained through peace and have too much to lose.

Sadly, this has not been the case for Palestinians.  Since the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993, Palestinians have lost land in the West Bank and Settlers attack them with no consequences.  Negotiations have failed them.  Put simply, the attacks of October the 7th were evil and cannot be defended. But Christians and Muslims living in the West Bank see that settlers can carry out attacks on a smaller scale, and the Settlers who carry out the attacks face no consequences for this. 

If Israel wants peace, it either has to engage in ethnic cleansing (again) or it has to make it that Palestinians do not lose out by choosing peace. 

VAR, Arsenal and Newcastle

We were robbed.  When Newcastle scored their goal, they had kept the ball in play (even though some images imply otherwise) and they were onside, but Joelinton had committed a foul while challenging Gabriel in the penalty box.  A draw would not have been enough but it would have been one point rather than none.  Tomorrow we are going to fall even further behind The Scum when they beat Chelski.  

Eddie Nketiah

I have just finished watching the Arsenal game. The commentators were singing the praises of Eddie Nketiah on Match of the Day. I have discussed him with friends and my view is that he is perfect for games such as these. We have seen that he has a lot of potential but in previous seasons he has failed to play at such a level in a more consistent manner when the pressure is on. 

With Kai Havertz around, competition for places and goals will be tough. Nketiah has the goals a striker needs under his belt, the question is if he will continue to score in bigger games against tougher opponents. 

Gaza and democracy

There have been a few good video's explaining what has happened in Gaza, but one thing many forget when it comes to Hamas, is how the USA is responsible for them still being in power.  Basically after the democratic elections that had been held in Gaza were won by Hamas, not liking the democracy the Palestinian people deserve, the USA tried to overthrow it.

For some reason, many nations are suspicious of the USA when it comes to democracy.  This link explains why. 

The Holy Land

I have seen some tweets on the internet indicating that people have to support one side or the other this month when it comes to the appalling situation in The Holy Land.

This video looks at how this has been the case with too many.

This video tries to sum up the complex situation in less than two minutes.

And this looks at the dangers faced to the IDF and Palestinian civilians with a ground attack into The Gaza Strip.

My mother and I had a disagreement on Sunday about this matter.  She ended up hanging up on me.  At least she did not say what she said to me to my children.  I suspect that they would have been more forthright in challenging what she said.

Second in the table

We are still second in the league. It is annoying that this was the game that Chelski decided to remember how to play, but we did well to come back down after being 2-0 down. I was hoping that we would win like we did in the past. 

The first casualty when war comes is truth

Too many Christians, Jews and Muslims have been killed and are dying in The Holy Land. However it appears that the truth is also the casualty when it comes to the attack on the Al-Ahli Arab hospital. 

Looking at the images, it appears that the car park was hit. Claims that 500 people died in the attack have been made, and they do not add up. There is no doubt that too many people in Gaza have been killed, and the number of dead and wounded so far exceeds the 500 who were claimed to be the casualties in this attack, or misfire by Gaza’s’defenders’ (as claimed by Israel). 

My wife said that she does not trust Israel when it comes to this. I do not trust either side. Do I think Israel attacked the car park? No, I think that this was the result of those firing rockets into Israel. Do I think that almost 500 people died in this incident? No. However, well over 500 civilians of the population of Gaza have been killed already and I suspect that more than 500 deaths are to come.